On y va!

Saturday 31st May 2014

Blog post by the mother

Up early this morning and off to Heathrow to drop off our rental car.  All went well until we got to the airport and realised that we had not seen a petrol station since Windsor at which to refill the car before returning.  Thank goodness for the navigator lady who helped us to find a nearby petrol station thereby saving us a massive refuelling charge from the car rental agency!

The underground was the usual madness,but not too bad for a Saturday morning, and we made it up to St Pancras in good time.  Got a refund on the unused portion of our Oyster Cards (so worth doing that!) and then off to the Eurostar check in. The Eurostar check in and passport control was a lot more relaxed than the airport - made a nice change.  Here are the kids ready to board our train to Paris.

We settled in for our trip to Paris and the time just whizzed by.  By the time the kids had done a bit of reading and had some lunch we were there.  The biggest surprise for the kids was that there was no warning before we went into the Chunnel and that it only took about 20 minutes of the journey.

We arrived into the Gare du Nord in Paris and the culture shock started almost immediately.  I had forgotten how seedy some parts of Paris can be and the police were very strongly in evidence as were their weapons and attitude of zero tolerance for the touts and homeless.  The kids were all quite wide-eyed and were definitely sticking close.
After convincing the very well -intentioned lady at the information office that I did want 5 day metro passes even though we will be here for 7 we decided to avoid the dodgy looking cab drivers and brave the metro for the journey to our apartment.  It was a colourful walk through the indian quarter of town but probably not to be recommended with four children and luggage in tow.  We made it to the metro without incident but had another interesting conversation with the ticket man about which tickets I wanted to buy for 3 adults and 3 children.  In the end he finally agreed to sell me a carnet and then we were on our way.  We got off the metro at Monceau and had a nice walk through the park where 'le tout Paris' seemed to be out enjoying the sunshine.  Olivier was waiting to greet us at the apartment and we were all greatly relieved to have a moment to regroup and settle in.
Since it was Saturday afternoon I was very aware that we needed to get some food supplies in before everything shut on Sunday.  Off we went to our local G20 to buy dinner, breakfasts and snacks to last us through to Monday - a trip to the markets tomorrow not withstanding.

Here is la famille outside our fabulous front door (which we share with 20 other apartments).  Our apartment is on the 5th floor at the very top of the building.  There is a tiny lift (thank goodness!) in which we can just all fit - luckily the girls are only light. Below is our lounge which also doubles as the boys bedroom.

The girls have a bedroom and do not have to share a bed - hoorah!

This is the view from our bedroom window to the left.

And to the right.

And this is the master bedroom.

The photos don't really do the apartment justice as it is surprisingly spacious.  I am particularly enamoured with the incredibly well thought out laundry and the kitchen - although the kitchen is almost scarily 'moderne' with all its fancy appliances. 

Anyway, we are settled and very happy with our new abode.  Looking forward to a fabulous week in Paris!